A property is negatively geared when the rent is less than the costs of holding it, and Australian tax rules generally let you deduct that loss against your other income. You still lose money — the deduction returns only your marginal tax rate on the shortfall, not the shortfall itself. It only works if capital growth exceeds the accumulated losses, which is a forecast, not a certainty.
Negative gearing is discussed as though it were an investment strategy. It is not. It is a description of a cash flow position, and it comes with a tax consequence. Whether that position is worth holding depends entirely on what the asset does in value, which nobody can promise you.
This explains the mechanism. It is not tax advice, and the treatment of any particular arrangement depends on your circumstances — speak to your accountant.
How the deduction actually works
Add up the deductible costs of holding an investment property: loan interest, council and water rates, strata levies, insurance, property management, repairs and maintenance, and depreciation where it applies. If those exceed the rent received, the property makes a loss.
Under current Australian rules that loss can generally be offset against your other assessable income, reducing your total tax.
The critical point, and the one most often misunderstood: you get back your marginal tax rate on the loss, not the loss. On a $10,000 shortfall, someone on a 37% marginal rate reduces their tax by roughly $3,700. They are still around $6,300 worse off in cash than if the property had broken even.
Nobody has ever become wealthy by losing a dollar to save 37 cents. The deduction softens the loss. The return has to come from somewhere else, and that somewhere is capital growth.
The negative gearing calculator shows the after-tax cost of holding a given property.
The bet you are actually making
Strip away the tax and the proposition is simple: you accept a cash loss each year in exchange for the expectation that the property will rise in value by more than those losses over your holding period.
That can work well. Australian property has rewarded long holders in many markets over many periods. But it is a forecast, and three things determine whether it comes off:
- Growth actually occurring, in that suburb, over your timeframe. Not every area grows, and periods of flat prices lasting years are common.
- You being able to hold on. The strategy fails if you are forced to sell during a downturn because you could not fund the shortfall.
- The eventual capital gain surviving tax. Capital gains tax applies on sale, with a discount generally available for assets held longer than twelve months. Run it through the capital gains tax calculator.
Why the ability to hold is the whole game
The most common way negative gearing fails has nothing to do with the tax rules. It is a forced sale.
Interest rates rise, or the tenant leaves for three months, or the property needs a $15,000 repair, or your own income falls. If the shortfall becomes unaffordable at the wrong moment in the price cycle, you sell into weakness and crystallise a loss that the deductions never come close to covering.
So the practical test is not “can I afford this property today”. It is “can I still afford it if rates rise, it sits empty for a quarter, and something expensive breaks — all in the same year”. If the answer is no, the position is too large regardless of how attractive the deduction looks.
Negative, neutral and positive gearing
| Cash position | Tax position | |
|---|---|---|
| Negatively geared | Costs you money each year | Loss deductible against other income |
| Neutrally geared | Roughly breaks even | Little effect either way |
| Positively geared | Produces surplus income | Surplus is taxable |
There is nothing inherently superior about any of these. A negatively geared property in a strongly growing area can outperform a positively geared one in a stagnant town, and the reverse is equally possible. Positive gearing has the practical advantage of funding itself, which means you are never forced to sell for cash flow reasons — an underrated benefit.
Note too that properties tend to move along this scale over time. Rents generally rise while the loan balance falls, so a property that starts negatively geared often turns neutral and then positive. That trajectory matters more than the position on day one.
Questions worth answering before you rely on it
- What is the annual shortfall, after tax, in a normal year?
- What is it if the rate rises meaningfully?
- Can I fund three months of vacancy without borrowing?
- Am I buying this property because the fundamentals are good, or because the deduction is?
- What happens to my position if prices are flat for five years?
- Have I accounted for land tax, which a second property can trigger?
If the answers only work when everything goes right, the position is too tight. The cash flow calculator is the place to start, and an accountant is the place to confirm it.
Common questions
No. It reduces your taxable income by the amount of the loss, so you save your marginal rate on that loss. You are still out of pocket for the rest of it.
Generally less so. The deduction is worth your marginal tax rate, so it returns less on a lower income while the cash shortfall is identical. A lower earner carrying a large shortfall is taking more risk for less offset.
The same principle applies to borrowing to buy income-producing assets generally, including shares. The rules and risks differ, and margin lending in particular behaves very differently from a mortgage. Get advice specific to the asset.
The annual deductions stop, and capital gains tax applies to any gain. A discount is generally available for assets held more than twelve months. Depreciation claimed along the way can affect the cost base, so the final position is not simply sale price minus purchase price.
Lenders assess servicing on your income and the property’s expected rent, usually counting only part of the rent, and they stress-test the repayments. Some consider the tax benefit, many do not. Do not assume it will help your application.